Homeless Man Wins Lottery

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(Courtesy: MGN Online)

Homeless Man Wins Lottery

(Courtesy: MGN Online)

By Casey Vaughn

Columbia, SC (WHNS) — A Greenville man living at a rescue mission after falling on hard times said he now has a chance at a new home after winning $200,000.

South Carolina Education Lottery officials said the man bought a $10 scratch-off ticket that revealed he was a winner.

The man told lottery officials he has lived in Greenville his entire life and used to work construction jobs but after hard times hit, he’s been living at a rescue mission.

“I went into the rescue mission to get my life together,” he told lottery officials.

He bought the winning ticket at Simons Liquors Inc. on West Washington Street and said he jumped, screamed and smiled when he saw the winning numbers. His brother drove him to Columbia on Thursday morning to collect his prize.

“To see a person you know, he gets $200,000 but he doesn’t have a penny in his pocket, I couldn’t believe he won $200,000,” Simon Sfeir said.

Sfeir is the store owner and said he’s never seen anyone win a $200,000 ticket.

“He came and bought one $10 ticket and one $5 ticket,” Sfeir said. “He needed it more than anybody, he’s in the rescue mission.”

There are two top prizes remaining in The Color of Money game. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 440,000.

For selling the claimed ticket, Simons Liquors received a commission of $2,000.